A brilliant last start winner of the Group II ATC Tea Rose Stakes in which she defeated archrival Winx, the John Thompson trained daughter of Fastnet Rock will jump from gate five with Blake Shinn aboard.
A $700,000 NZB Premier purchase from the Curraghmore Stud draft for Bart
Cummings, First Seal runs for a powerful group of owners that includes China
Horse Club (in whose colours she runs), Raffles Thoroughbred Racing, John Chau,
Tunku Ahmad Yahaya and Dato Tan Chin Nam's Think Big Stud, which is managed by
Duncan Ramage of DGR Thoroughbreds."Back in 2012 and 2013, I was commissioned by China Horse Club to source and buy some yearlings for them to be prepared by a variety of trainers," explained Duncan Ramage.
"We secured horses that went to Gai Waterhouse, Mark Kavanagh, Anthony Freedman, Robert Heathcote, Mike Moroney and Bart and James Cummings.
"First Seal was a horse that was identified as being suitable for Bart given his experience with her older sibling Book of Kells, so he was given the task of bidding on her at the sale."
Cummings secured the filly, with Coolmore left as the underbidder, but the budget set down by China Horse Club was exceeded.
"We were over budget and that forced me to 'phone a friend' as they say, which is how the partnership was formed with Dato Yap's Raffles Thoroughbreds, who bred the filly, agreeing to take a share and China Horse Club holding a majority interest," Ramage recalled.
"John Thompson had done some work in China for China Horse Club and the new partnership elected to send the filly to him and he's done a great job with her."
If ever a filly was bred to be considered Oaks material it is surely First Seal, so it's not hard to see why Thompson harbours classic ambitions as do her owners, albeit probably more so for the autumn.
First Seal has two wins and a second on the board from just four starts and one can't help but feel this is just the beginning for her.
Bred by Raffles Dancers, First Seal is a three-quarter sister to Group II STC Tulloch Stakes winner Book of Kells and is the seventh winner for Episode, who won both the Group I SAJC Australasian Oaks and South Australian Oaks as well as finishing second in the Queensland Oaks.
First Seal has an interesting mix of speed and stamina in her pedigree being by Fastnet Rock (a son of Danehill) from a daughter of Scenic (son of Sadler's Wells) with her next two dams by Star Kingdom line sires in Best Western and Tattenham.
"She was a super mover, a beautiful filly," said Ramage.
"Fastnet Rock can get some heavy shouldered horses that have problems with the front end, but she's not like that at all.
"She probably gets a bit of refinement through the Scenic blood on her dam's side. I love to see him in a pedigree as the broodmare sire."
First Seal is the best case scenario of what you'd like to breed by updating an old Australian female family with some of the world's best bloodlines.
"After the Flight Stakes John (Thompson) will decide on Melbourne," said Ramage.
"He's the trainer so it will be up to him. I could certainly see her running an Oaks distance at three, maybe in the autumn, but I don't think she needs the ground to be a Group I winner. The mile looks perfect for her at the moment."
